


we learn to forget

by it_always_flinches_first



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Angst, Gen, Hurt Peter Parker, Prosopagnosia, Whump, Will add tags as I go, wow i didn't know that was a tag already
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-15
Updated: 2019-08-15
Packaged: 2020-09-13 18:44:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,457
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20259037
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/it_always_flinches_first/pseuds/it_always_flinches_first
Summary: Prosopagnosia, also commonly known as face blindness, is a cognitive disorder of face perception in which the ability to recognize familiar faces, including one's own face (self-recognition), is impaired.





	we learn to forget

**Author's Note:**

> here's the thing guys: i like to think i'm pretty accurate when i write medical stuff, i do my research. but there's only so much Wikipedia can do, so if you happen to be a doctor, and i'm completely butchering all the knowledge there is on prosopagnosia, uh, please ignore it, i'm Trying My Best™, and i'm but a mere mortal. alright that's it, happy reading 💙💜

Peter's 7 minutes late.

Tony glances at the digital clock for what feels like the hundredth time. 

'3:47, Mon, 12/7' stares back at him in bright blue light. He sighs.

Peter is usually on time. He hates being late, so he tries his best not to be. Tony knows this. He also knows that the last time the kid was late, it was because he was bleeding out in a random alley in Queens, after an unfortunate encounter with a trigger happy mugger.

Shaking his head, as if he could get rid of the memory that way, Tony returns his gaze to his worktable, and starts picking at a loose wire with a pair of tweezers.

_ The kid's fine, _ he tells himself, _ I mean, FRIDAY would say something if he wasn't. _

With the amount of protocols he has in place regarding Peter, Tony's sure that if anything bad happens to the kid, he'll be the first to know.

Peter's fine. He must be.

* * *

Peter's 16 minutes late.

Tony's starting to get really worried. He checks his phone. Peter hasn't called or texted. He checks the Baby Monitor. Peter hasn't been in the suit today. He feels the urge to call the kid, ask him if he's fine, but he dismisses the idea quickly, because, on some level, he recognizes that he's probably just being paranoid.

The ache in his stomach is still there, the feeling that something's wrong won't leave him alone. And later, he'll look back on it and call it a premonition, but for now, all he does is take a sip out of his water bottle, and get back to work.

* * *

Peter's 24 minutes late. Tony calls May.

The phone rings. Once. Twice. Then again. And again.

_ "Hi! This is May Parker's voicemail, leave a message!" _

Tony curses under his breath and slams his hand on the table. He calls again. Voicemail. A third time. Voicemail _ again _.

He calls Peter.

One ring. Two. Three. Fou–

_ "Mr. Stark?" _

And Tony nearly faints from the relief.

Peter's voice is gruff, like he's just woken up, but he doesn't sound injured, and he's sure as fuck not dead, which is what Tony had begun to fear the most.

_ "Mr. Stark? Are you there?" _

"Yeah, I– yeah, I'm here." He replies, trying to hide the waver in his voice.

_ "Alright," _ Says Peter. _ "uh, what's up?" _

"You said you were coming to the lab today?" Tony replies, as he mentally berates himself for being paranoid. "You didn't show up, so I got worried."

_ "Oh! Yeah, I– I'm sorry Mr. Stark, I just... I lost track of time, I guess." _ Peter says, and he's speaking quickly, like he does when he's nervous. Which is weird, cause Tony thought they were past the star-struck phase.

"That's fine." He says, but it comes out more like a question. "You ok?"

_ "I'm good, don't worry about me." _ Peter answers without hesitation. But there's something that's... off.

"Do you want me to send Happy to pick you up?"

_ "No!" _ Says Peter, a bit louder than he probably meant to, before clearing his throat. Again, suspicious. _ "I, uh, actually Mr. Stark, do you mind if I skip lab today?" _

"Not at all kid." Tony frowns. "You sure you're ok? You never skip lab."

_ "I'm fine, Mr. Stark. It's just, I don't have a lot of time lately, and I want to go buy May some flowers." _ Comes the hurried reply.

"What kind of flowers?" Tony says, gesturing for FRIDAY to track Peter's location. 'I'm going to buy flowers for May' was the phrase that they had settled on when deciding on how Peter could alert Tony, if he ever got into a situation where he needed help, but couldn't say it outright. Tulips was the confirmation that something was wrong.

_ "I'm thinking tulips." _ Peter says, and Tony's stomach drops. _ "What do you think?" _

"Sounds good." Says Tony, trying and failing to keep calm. "You wanna talk for a bit? I haven't seen you in a while."

FRIDAY's slow. Slow, too slow.

_ "Mr. Stark I– I actually have to go, sir, but I'll see you some other day." _ Says Peter, and his voice shakes, almost unnoticeably, but it's _ there _.

FRIDAY's not done tracking yet.

"Kid? Hold on, wait a second. Peter? Peter!"

But the line's already dead.

God, what a way to start the week.

* * *

They find him the next day.

Well, they don't find him so much as _ he _ finds _ them _.

Tony's restless, working in the lab as if his life depends on it, to find Peter, because his might.

His tablet pings with a possible match in location, and Tony gives a half smile and a "I'm coming for you, kid." under his breath, before FRIDAY's voice stops him.

"Boss," She says, "I have located Peter Parker."

Tony pauses.

"_ I _ had already located Peter Parker." He says, frowning.

"I have a visual on him." FRIDAY shoots back.

And, ok, what the fuck?

"You have– what? Where is he?"

"The lobby, Boss."

As he races towards the elevator, Tony doesn't stop to wonder why, or how the kid got to the Tower, the only thing going through his mind is a mantra of _ 'Peter Peter Peter get to Peter' _ and, really, who can blame him?

The ride down, once again, is way too slow for Tony's liking, but he gets there. And, god, the scene in front of him is horrifying.

Peter's there, as promised by FRIDAY, but what the AI conveniently forgot to mention, was that the kid is covered in blood, and he looks like he's straight out of a low budget horror movie.

"Peter!" Cries Tony, then, when he thinks better of it, "FRIDAY get Bruce down here right now!"

Peter, who is sitting on a random chair, with a worried receptionist next to him, calling for medical, doesn't even twitch at Tony's voice. He just… sits there, not reacting. And when Tony gets to him, he almost wishes that he hadn't, because Peter, he doesn't scream, he doesn't look scared, he does nothing, his eyes open but seeing nothing, except, when Bruce does get down to the lobby, and the kid's laid down on a stretcher and carried to the elevator, Peter looks at Tony, and speaks. One sentence, three words.

"Who are you?" Peter whispers.

And Tony _ shatters. _

The kid doesn't seem to notice, though, too out of it to realize that Tony's breaking, ripping apart at the seams, so, in reality, does it even matter?

_ Does it have any importance, _ Tony wonders, _ that I'm falling apart, if Peter's ok? _

And he is. Peter's fine. Well, he's alive. 

_And he apparently doesn't recognize me_.

It's been a bittersweet couple of minutes, but now Peter's being taken away by Bruce and a handful of other doctors and nurses, so Tony decides to stay back, let the professionals work, and so that is how he ends up here: in the waiting room of the Tower's medbay, looking up the word 'prosopagnosia'.

This time, it couldn't be blamed on his own paranoia, though, because it was FRIDAY who suggested looking up the word. And Tony has a big vocabulary, sure, but his knowledge of medical terms starts at 'allergies' and ends at 'the flu'. Thus: Google.

The first article that pops up, is from a medical journal, one that he recognizes, and it's sad, in a way, but he doesn't have time to figure out how.

** _Prosopagnosia_ ** _ , also commonly known as _ ** _face blindness_ ** _ , is a cognitive disorder of face perception in which the ability to recognize familiar faces, including one's own face (self-recognition), is impaired. _

"So, you think… _ that's _ what Peter has? Prosopagnosia? And that's why he didn't recognize me?" Tony asks FRIDAY.

"I could be wrong," She answers, "but it's also a possibility that can't be ruled out."

And it feels like a punch to the gut.

"But– I mean, it could just be the shock." He argues. "Or the blood loss, there are many things– it doesn't have to be _ this _." There's desperation in his voice, but if FRIDAY picks up on it, she doesn't mention it. She simply hums, sounding awfully human for a second, and then, having apparently considered his suggestion, answers him.

"It could have been many things, Boss," She says, and if she had a body Tony imagines her lips would be pursed, because she sounds like she's judging him, and people usually purse their lips while they're judging him, "but I think it's wise to be willing to accept many possibilities."

Tony sighs. It feels like he's been doing a lot of that lately. But right now, there's no use in wallowing, not really.

He picks up his tablet again, and finishes the article.

**Author's Note:**

> next chap will probably be up in a couple of days, see ya💚


End file.
